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Oral History Interview with Millie Tripp, August 12, 1994. Interview K-0112. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) in the Southern Oral History Program Collection, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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VALERIE PAWLEWICZ:

While you were working at White's in the 80s did you notice a
decline in [pause] how, what factors?

MILLIE TRIPP:

What you attribute to?

VALERIE PAWLEWICZ:

Yeah.

MILLIE TRIPP:

Ah, well, I felt that the gentlemen who were head of that company over
all the years were each very bright, brilliant in their situations. I
don't know that it was when newer people started in and made
changes or, of course, maybe the times needed
changing, I don't know, but in that time there was a decline.
Maybe in problems and maybe in some of the 80s were some poor financial
times in the country, I think. But, I know we had more quality problems
at that time, and maybe there were things between the factions.

VALERIE PAWLEWICZ:

Factions being the people who were making decisions for the company?

MILLIE TRIPP:

Uh, huh. Possibly in that area.

VALERIE PAWLEWICZ:

'Cause in sales you have seen, you would have heard the calls
coming in about maybe problems with the furniture or problems with the
suppliers, so you--.

MILLIE TRIPP:

Yeah, I don't know about the suppliers at that point whether
or not there were problems or not, no, but I had seen them since.
I'm not sure other than I know there were certain quality
problems, maybe the designs that they brought out were more difficult in
procedures or whatever they had to do. One grouping, in particular, that
came out, an oriental grouping that we are still selling.

VALERIE PAWLEWICZ:

An oriental?

MILLIE TRIPP:

Uh, huh. I'll show you some things. We're still
selling today so it's been going on since, at least, the
early 80s. I can't remember what year that was brought out
right now, but certainly back in June, and we had a new younger designer
that designed that. It was beautiful, well received, I mean, just great
time, just great big time in markets. Made copies, people trying to
market it off, but weren't successful. But it went big time,
and it's still a popular group. It is going to be dropped
this time; the final cutting is coming in now. I remember in that
particular grouping there were problems in making this. They had a real
high sheen. The table tops seemed that they had problems galore with
those and spent time working that out. And types of that thing that
maybe they were more complicated for some reason or something that made
them harder to--. Maybe they had to find new materials that
weren't normal for the time or something. Back in that time
it seems like things started going down. I feel that there was friction
somewhere in there. I hesitate to say anything like what would cause
that. I really don't like to get into
that, but during those times started and over
the years--I don't think they ever lost money. I know the
last couple of years that they owned it, right in there, is when things
started happening.

VALERIE PAWLEWICZ:

That's how you account for the sales?

MILLIE TRIPP:

Well, they were losing money so I'm not sure, I mean, why they
decided to--. I don't know why they sold it as cheaply as I
understood they did 'cause we had a backlog of orders about
that deep. [measuring with fingers] It was
difficult times that last year certainly. And, of course, everybody was
feeling so insecure for the first time in all the years at
White's even though we saw business, a few times, get very
bad when orders were very slim, we still didn't have the
feeling that you weren't going to have a job, but it became
more and more the fact that something had to happen.